HISTORY OF MEXICO. 



119 



" know how to order every thing properly. When the 

 " time for thy marriage is come, dare not to make it 

 " without the confent of thy parents, other wife it will 

 " have an unhappy ilfue. 



" Steal not, nor give thyfelf up to gaming ; other- 

 " wife thou wilt be a difgrace to thy parents, whom 

 " thou oughtefl rather to honour for the education they 

 " have given thee. If thou wilt be virtuous, thy exam- 

 cC pie will put the wicked to fiiame. No more my fon ; 

 " enough has been faid in difcharge of the duties of a 

 " father. With thefe counfels I wifti to fortify thy 

 " mind. Refufe them not, nor a 61: in contradiction to 

 " them ; for on them thy life, and all thy happinefs, de- 

 " pend." 



Such were the inftruc*tions which the Mexicans fre- 

 quently inculcated to their fons. Hufbandmen and mer- 

 chants gave their fons other advice regarding their par- 

 ticular profeflion, which we, however, omit, not to prove 

 tedious to our readers \ but I cannot difpenfe with tran- 

 fcribing one of the exhortations made ufe of by mothers 

 to their daughters, as it illuflrates their mode of educa- 

 tion and manners. 



" My daughter," faid the mother, " born of my fub- 

 " fiance, brought forth with my pains, and nourifhed 

 " with my milk, I have endeavoured to bring thee up 

 " with the greateft pofTible care, and thy father has 

 f wrought and poliflied thee like an emerald, that thou 

 " mayeft appear in the eyes of men a jewel of virtue. 

 " Strive always to be good ; for otherwife who will have 

 " thee for a wife ?, thou wilt be rejected by every one. 

 " Life is a thorny laborious path, and it is necelTary 

 " to exert all our powers to obtain the goods which the 

 " gods are willing to yield to us ; we muft not there- 

 fore 



